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ASSESSING JUVENILITY

UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS | ASSESSING JUVENILITY, A DELICATE TASK: SC | 14TH JULY

/ July, 2022, UPSC Daily Current Affairs

SYLLABUS ECTION: GS II (POLITY AND GOVERNANCE)     

WHY IN THE NEWS ASSESSING JUVENILITY?

Supreme Court has given some guidelines for the delicate task of deciding whether Assessing juvenility age between 16 and 18,

Accuse of heinous offences such as murder can be try like adults as per the JJ Act, 2005.

SUPREME COURT ASSESSMENT:

The “delicate task” of deciding whether Assessing juvenility age between 16 and 18,

Accuse of heinous offences can be try like adults should be base on meticulous psychological investigation.

Delicate tasks that apex court is referring:

  1. Preliminary Assessment
  • The assessment is meant to gauge a child’s ability to understand the consequences of the offence and the circumstances in which he or she allegedly commit the offence.
  • If the Juvenile Justice Board is of the opinion that the juvenile should not be treat as an adult, it would not pass on the case to the children’s court and hear the case itself.
  • If the Board decides to refer the case to the children’s court for trial as an adult, the juvenile, if guilty, would even face life imprisonment.
  1. Mental capacity
  • The evaluation of mental capacity of the child in conflict with law should not be relegate as a routine task.
  • The process of taking a decision on which the fate of the child in conflict with law precariously rests, should not be taken without conducting a meticulous psychological evaluation.
  • The court said the Board which conducts the assessment of the child should have at least one child psychologist.
Way forward
  • The court discovered that there were neither guidelines nor a specific framework in place for conduct of the preliminary assessment.
  • The court left it open for the Centre and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights to consider issuing guidelines or directions in this regard.
Juvenile Justice Act, 2015

  • The JJ Act, 2015 replaced the Indian juvenile delinquency law, Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000.
  • It allows for juveniles in conflict with Law in the age group of 16–18, involves in Heinous Offences, to be try as adults.
  • The Act also sought to create a universally accessible adoption law for India.
  • The Act came into force from 15 January 2016.

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